Summer is here so we're bringing you a two-part series of the greatest Summer Blockbusters of all time. Finally, we look at the best the 21st Century has to offer as the Bitesize crew has put their brains together to compile Bitesize Breakdown's consensus Top Five Summer Blockbusters of the 21st Century. Due to the scope of this list, we narrowed it down to films that were released within the summer window and were a top five box office draw in their year of release.
Each writer ranks their top 15 films in the category. Those lists are then weighted on a reverse point system. After all the points are tallied up, the entries with the most total points make up the Bitesize Top Five.
5. SPIDER-MAN: ACROSS THE SPIDER-VERSE
I take full umbrage against anyone who disparages this as just “half a movie” because it ends on a cliffhanger. Yes, we still have to finish Miles’ (Shameik Moore) story, but Gwen (Hailee Steinfeld) gets a full blown arc that not only raises her character, but supplements that of Earth-42’s Spider-Man (Miles, for those who are asking). So any claims of flaws are misguided when it comes to story, and obviously any claims of nothing less than perfection in the visuals, action, characters, and voice-acting are utterly preposterous. This is the Empire Strikes Back of comic-book movies, the Two Towers of superhero films, and if you haven’t caught my drift, barring how well Beyond The Spider-Verse lands, this is the best film in what will hopefully be the greatest trilogy of all time. Any thoughts other than that can get lost in one of The Spot’s (Jason Schwartzman)… spots. - Amarú
4. PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL
Given that it was based on a children’s amusement park ride and was a movie about pirates — a rarely profitable on-screen subject — The Curse of the Black Pearl was a gamble that turned out to be lightning in a bottle, featuring all the elements of a perfect summer popcorn movie. You’ve got extremely fun supernatural and action-adventure elements. You’ve got the type of tremendous production design usually reserved for prestige dramas. You’ve got hilarity amongst the many quotable one-liners and just the right amount of scenery chewing. You’ve got an iconic score that evokes the perfect swashbuckling vibe. You’ve got young hotties Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley in peak hottie form. And most of all, you’ve got a committed (and Oscar-nominated) Johnny Depp, who absolutely understood the assignment for the type of movie he was in. Five Oscar nominations, $650 million in box office returns, and being the third highest grossing movie of 2003 only cement Black Pearl as one of the best summer blockbusters of all time, not just the 21st century. Savvy? — Quentin
3. SPIDER-MAN 2
Last year, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Columbia Pictures, Sony re-released all eight live-action Spider-Man films in theatres every Monday from April until June in an event known as “Spider-Mondays”. Being the Spidey fan I am, I took advantage. But real talk, I only went for the Sam Raimi movies. The opportunity to re-watch his trilogy on the big screen was too big to miss, especially since they’re some of my favourite comic book movies of all time. The 2002 original is the ideal version of an origin story, and as messy as the third instalment is, I’d argue time has been kinder to it than some of the MCU entries people swear are superior. But as much as I love both, there’s no denying that Spider-Man 2 is the peak. It’s a perfect blend of high-octane action, naturalistic drama, sweeping romance, and the occasional dash of horror (the *extremely* Raimi hospital scene scared me silly as a kid). I laugh each time that Aunt May (Rosemary Harris) slaps the gold coin out of the bank teller’s hand in the middle of Doc Ock’s (Alfred Molina) robbery. I cry each time the train passengers swear to keep Peter’s (Tobey Maguire) identity a secret, out of awe for his heroism. I sing along to Dashboard Confessional’s “Vindicated” any time I let the credits play. Obviously, there’s been a ton of superhero movies in the two decades since its release. Some have been as big. Others have been much bigger. But I’d argue none are as perfect. - Bode
2. TOY STORY 3
Quick little story: I was nine when Toy Story 3 came out (I don't know if that ages me or the exact opposite), and my parents told me we could go see it if I was good at the dentist. As someone who loved Woody (Tom Hanks) and Buzz (Tim Allen) my whole childhood, I was just happy to see them on a movie screen at that age. Watching the film as an adult, I now realize the emotional devastation that those talking toys can conjure up with their metaphor for parenthood and growing up, hitting harder the older I get, but that fond memory of watching it for the first time right before school ended was something else. A perfect end to a historic franchise (or at least it would've been), and a fun and beautiful movie that I believe is Pixar's best. - Adriano
1. THE DARK KNIGHT
The first time I saw The Dark Knight was quite the indelible theater experience for my growing cinema fandom; I had loved movies before, but sitting down for that thrill ride was formative, despite how old I was at the time. From the opening heist to the action set pieces in Hong Kong and on the Bat Bike, there is no shortage of moments that force you to widen your eyes and truly appreciate the scale of movie-making accomplishment. Over time, I have seen through the spectacle and drilled down to some inconsistencies with plot and dialogue, but that doesn’t take away from where this sits on the pantheon of summer blockbusters and comic book movies. Christopher Nolan is a master of making the fantastical seem tangible and giving an auteur sensibility to the most well-known of IP, and it culminates with The Dark Knight as a real-life magic trick. - Robert
HONORABLE MENTIONS
TOP GUN: MAVERICK
IRON MAN
CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR
SHREK
THE AVENGERS